My Jolly Sailor Bold
by Valiant No More
Summary: Just a collection of drabbles concerning the origins of mermaids and sirens. Rated T for suggested themes.
1. Chapter 1

Taking one last gasping breath before the inevitable plunge, blinking through the blinding tears as your feet echo hollowly against the wooden plank beneath you, you hear the men jeering at you and looking back can make out the face of just one man. He stands passively opposed to the crowd, simply crossing himself in fear at the sight of you and the thought of his superstition.

He isn't helping to send you to your end but he does nothing to stop it either. It's men like these, you think, that will call the ire and wrath, your ire and wrath, down upon themselves.

That's your last thought as the floor drops out from under you and you're swallowed by the waves below. To begin with you aren't scared, you knew this was inevitable were you discovered. You find yourself resigned to death.

It isn't until your lungs start to burn and ache, forcing you to take in a mouthful of water that stings worse than the initial burn as it hits your lungs, that the panic finally sets in. By then you find that you're to deep to even make a valiant effort at breaking the surface again.

Keeping your eyes tightly shut you don't sense the presence in the water until arms are fixed about you and there is a mouth pressed firmly to your own. This sends a shock through you startling your eyes open to peer into eyes of an otherworldly blue. So lost in her gaze are you that you had forgotten the need to breathe, for now you realize that you are no longer drowning but rather just barely existing on the edge of reality.

Glancing down at yourself you find that this isn't the only change you've experience for you are no longer yourself but rather something both terrible and beautiful, everything you should ever have been. One look into the eyes of your savior and you understand, everything you had once been is gone. All that is left is a shadow of the creature you were.

A sudden anger overtakes you and diving down you leave the siren in your wake as you leave in search of, hunting, the men that would dare to destroy such a perfect creature as a woman.

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold

My name it is Maria

A Merchant's daughter fair

And I have left my parents

And three thousand pounds a year

Come all you pretty fair maids

Whoever you may be

Who love a jolly sailor

Who plows the raging sea

Author's Note:

This is my first attempt at a fic like this so I would absolutely LOVE feedback on it. If you could let me know what you think that'd be fantastic!


	2. Chapter 2

Waves brush past you now, a mere annoyance to what they had once been what seemed an age ago. And perhaps it was. Time does not hinder you here, and age melts away into nonexistence.

As the sun rises higher over the horizon, you force your eyes back to the shore seeking one face in particular. You first spotted her some week ago and immediately recognized the restless expression she wore. It was that of a girl with the intent to run.

You have no idea why you watch her, for she will no doubt be found eventually, drug under in the same way you were. But there is something haunting in her gaze that insists she will never reach the waves. You watch as she disappears into the distance and hardly dare move closer. At a reasonable distance you settle in to wait.

Hours must pass before you see her again, because the sun now appears to be setting, but you hardly notice as she changes course and starts for the water's edge. Barely a hairsbreadth from the coursing waves you can see the longing for release in her gaze and suddenly you understand. She never means to go to sea.

Her eyes now wet with unshed tears, her curls tangled in the wind, and bruises adorn her neck. A glint of silver catches your eye and you can't wait a moment longer, allowing her to see you now waiting just out of reach. You see how far gone she is in her lack of shock or care at the sight of you, studying one another for awhile you seem to reach an agreement and reach out to her in offering.

The silver blade falling from her grasp she reaches out to meet you, not once turning back as her shawl slips into the hungry waves revealing sleeves of sapphire that make a bile rise in your throat at the thought of what must have been done to this poor creature before you. She follows you blindly into the deeper waters, not fearing until the tides pull you under and then she clings tightly to you still refusing to turn back. Her pulse is quick in fear for the life she had intended to end in pain. Fear is good you decide as she offers you a look that could never be called happy, but rather a mere imitation of it, and she continues on in solitude.

You and I alone

Far away from home

Into the great unknown

Hand in hand we roll...


	3. Chapter 3

The girls no longer surprise you, they all come from such similar backgrounds. Abuse. No matter the kind it seems to be what it comes back to every time.

That one with the raven curls was assaulted. The one with the laughing eyes and freckled nose was demeaned and ridiculed daily by her mother. The one who mothers the rest of you, checking in to make sure you're okay, was ignored for the better part of her life by parents who never wanted a daughter. Worst of all is the little one who hangs on for dear life whenever she sees you. Hugging for all she's worth. She was forced into prostitution to cater to a father's drinking habits.

This new one is different though, there's an unchecked hatred in her gaze and a ferocity in her smile as she marches straight off the pier still holding the bloody blade tightly before her, red hair whipping angrily as tear tracks dry upon her face.

No one knows her story and she never offers to tell it. But you've seen the cold unfeeling in her eyes and it's clearer than any words spoken could ever be. She had refused the abuse the others had bled for. She had turned the blade on her abuser. The one who tried to harm her was no more.

Well I know I had it coming  
>I know I was a fool<br>Cause he really made me trust him  
>And he really made me drool<br>He made me feel important  
>He knew just what to say<br>But you can bet your ass I really made him pay.

Well I didn't care about her  
>I let her run away<br>He said, 'Oh please I'm sorry'  
>And I said 'but you will pay.'<br>Then he tried to escape me, but I was far ahead  
>I found a knife and took his life<br>Oh god how much he bled.


End file.
